JAY-Z

Released: September 8, 2009

Featuring: Kanye West Rihanna

Songwriter: Athanasios Alatas Jeff Bhasker No I.D. Rihanna Kanye West JAY-Z

Producer: No I.D. Kanye West

[Produced by Kanye West & No I.D]

[Intro: Rihanna]
Feel it comin' in the air
Hear the screams from everywhere
I’m addicted to the thrill
It's a dangerous love affair
Can’t be scared when it goes down
Got a problem, tell me now
Only thing that's on my mind
Is who's gon' run this town tonight
Is who's gon' run this town tonight
We gon' run this town!

[Verse 1: Jay Z]
We are, yeah, I said it: we are
This is Roc Nation, pledge your allegiance
Get your fatigues on, all black everything
Black cards, black cars, all black everything
And our girls are blackbirds ridin' with they Dillingers
I get more in depth if you boys really real enough
This is la Familia, I'll explain later
But for now, let me get back to this paper
I'm a couple bands down and I'm tryin' to get back
I gave Doug a grip and lost a flip for five stacks
Yeah, I'm talkin' 5 comma, 6 zeros, dot zero, here Doug
Back to runnin' circles round niggas, now we squared up
Hold up!

[Chorus: Rihanna]
Life’s a game, but it's not fair
I break the rules, so I don’t care
So I keep doin' my own thang
Walkin' tall against the rain
Victory’s within the mile
Almost there, don’t give up now
Only thing that's on my mind
Is who’s gon' run this town tonight
Heyyy, heyy, heyyy, heyy
Who’s gon' run this town tonight?

[Verse 2: Jay Z]
We are, yeah, I said it: we are
You can call me Caesar, in a dark Caesar
Please follow the leader, so Eric B we are
Microphone fiend, this the return of the God
Peace, God, ah ah, it ain't no nobody fresher
I'm in Maison, ah, Martin Margiela
On the table, screamin'
"Fuck the other side! They're jealous!"
We got a banquette full of broads
They got a table full of fellas
Yeah, and they ain't spendin' no cake
They should throw their hand in
‘Cause they ain't got no spades
Yeah, my whole team got dough
So my banquette is lookin' like millionaires' row

[Chorus: Rihanna]
Life’s a game, but it's not fair
I break the rules, so I don’t care
So I keep doin' my own thang
Walkin' tall against the rain
Victory’s within the mile
Almost there, don’t give up now
Only thing that's on my mind
Is who’s gon' run this town tonight
Heyyy, heyy, heyyy, heyy
Who’s gon' run this town tonight?

[Verse 3: Kanye West]
It's crazy how you can go from bein' Joe Blow
To everybody on your dick; no homo
I bought my whole family whips; no Volvos
Next time I’m in church: please, no photos
Police escorts, everybody passports
This the life that everybody ask for
This the fast life, we are on a crash course
What you think I rap for, to push a fuckin' Rav 4?
But I know that if I stay stunting
All these girls only gon' want one thing
I can spend my whole life goodwill hunting
Only good gon' come is this good when I'm cumming
She got a ass that'll swallow up a G-string
And up top, ungh, two bee stings
And I'm beasting off the Riesling
And my nigga just made it out the precinct
We give a damn about the drama that your dude bring
I'm just tryin' to change the color on your mood ring
Reebok, baby, you need to try some new things
Have you ever had shoes without shoe strings?
"What's that, Ye?" "Baby, these heels."
"Is that a May— what?!" "Baby, these wheels."
You trippin' when you ain't sippin', have a refill
You feelin' like you runnin', huh? Now you know how we feel

[Outro: Jay Z & Rihanna]
Whassup!
Heyyy, heyy, heyyy, heyy
Yeah, yeah, whassup!
Heyyy, heyy, heyyy, heyy
We gon' run this town tonight

Having sold over 100 million records worldwide, and holding the solo artist record of 14 Billboard 200 #1 albums, Shawn “JAY-Z” Carter is possibly the most talented, accomplished and respected rapper of all-time. He has released 13 studio albums and five collaborative albums over his 30-year career.

Three of his albums, Reasonable Doubt, The Blueprint, and The Black Album, are considered landmarks in the genre, with all of them featured in Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Hov has won 21 Grammy Awards from sixty-four nominations, making him the 10th most awarded artist of all-time.

Legendary for never writing down his lyrics, JAY-Z’s flow is considered one of the greatest to grace the genre, his wordplay and metaphorical ability is unmatched, and his live shows push the envelope of what it means to be a hip hop artist. His MTV Unplugged appearance introduced the idea of having a full band (The Roots) backing up a hip hop artist at major concerts, and during his 2004 documentary Fade to Black he doubled down, selling out Madison Square Garden (in mere minutes) while featuring an enormous live band performance.

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